Silver Spring IPO Expected to Break 2013 Tech Funk

The IPO’s order book is reportedly many times “oversubscribed,” says IPO Boutique’s Scott Sweet.

Silver Spring operates a hardware and software network designed to help utility companies tap the “smart grid” — a responsive electrical infrastructure designed to help lower costs and optimize energy use. Customers including PG&E Corp. and Pepco Holdings Inc. place the company’s two-way transmitting equipment close to homes and businesses. The devices are connected to the energy grid and send energy-consumption data back and forth between consumers and utilities.

It’s been a while since a so-called clean energy IPO has been well received; SolarCity, for instance, had to drastically cut its pricing to launch its IPO in September, but the stock has more than doubled since.

The IPO market has produced big trading gains from companies in the financial, industrial, health-care, consumer and energy sectors. But flotations in the technology field have been unusually tame. Silver Spring’s modest $66.7 million offering will be the sector’s second, and largest, this year, according to Ipreo, a market-intelligence firm.

Silver Spring is expected to price tonight and begin trading tomorrow on NYSE under ticker SSNI.